TMNT Black and Blue
by mysteryred
Summary: I wrote my 2017 Leorai week prompts into a continuous short story. Thus I present a torn universe AU, with prompts, black & blue, fantasy, sparring, first date, fire/water, yes, and the last being whatever you want, I chose homecoming.
1. Black and Blue

_Break down, tears fall to the ground_

 _Tell myself: "Damnit, nothing can be found"_

 _When you're a fighter_

 _You're a fighter, fight on baby_

 _\- Sia, Black & Blue_

Chapter 1

Black and Blue

I'd seen dark. If one could say they'd looked into the abyss, into the endless nothing, the obsidian trap where hate could swallow you whole and hold you captive, I'd faced that many times. That kind of darkness was no stranger to me. I'd looked it in the eye, and fought it with a vengeance, one that threatened to consume me along with it. But Leo'd always been there to pull me back, save me from the brink of any and everything, including myself.

During the Kraang invasion my mutation was a fresh hell, my life collapsing in upon itself as the world outside appeared to be doing the very same thing. Most nights in that time I'd spent coiled tight beneath a billboard, wishing the power might be restored that the giant bulbs should illuminate and warm me, lest I learn to self-regulate my serpent body heat. I wasn't sure I could- then I did.

This time was different. Not the body-heat part, I'd had many years to become one with my mutant side. It was the invasion that was different and it wasn't the Kraang.

I dropped to my belly, willing myself to transform enough that my tubular form permit me to slither along the dank, narrow passage. I halted as the last remnants of the sun's warmth faded from my tail, the darkness swallowing me whole as I looked back to the last slivers of a melancholy blue sky. How far we'd fallen, each and every one of us. My heart clenched. Perhaps it was because I'd spent so much time walking the grey line between black and white, right and wrong, good and evil, that when the Unnamed invaded, ripping apart the veil that separated the two worlds, black and white, right and wrong, good and evil, I remained unchanged. Because, I'd lived my life that way all along. That and whoever my otherworld counterpart had been, she was dead before they came.

But that blurry high wire I danced upon, that wasn't so for Leo or his brothers. They had boundaries they did not cross. At least they hadn't at the time.

Moisture seeped from the ground beneath, water dripping from the low ceiling above. I should hate tight spaces, but I'd been locked in a cell enough times that I was capable of shutting that part of me off. The fear of the walls crumbling, collapsing and closing the passage, trapping me along with it, what should be terror was merely a faint whimper inside me. The most prominent emotion I carried, I'd hesitated to name. It was what drove me forward, kept me searching... kept me breathing. No. The only fears I bore were either faced or yet to come. The first had been loving him, for in those moments of peace, true bliss, those fleeting moments we cannot keep and do not last, they leave a burn, something precious covered with the scar you wear after they've gone. The only thing I truly feared was losing him. But, in a sense, I'd lived through that too. Though I did not fearing dying at his hand, because I would die knowing I'd done all I could to save him.

" _Don't do this, Karai. He ain't the same. If I can't save him, you can't."_

I would've laughed at Raph's warning, were the scar skipping across his upper lip to dash his brow not still sutured, purple and hopefully not infected. The bruises on his body, black and splotchy, his arm in a sling, his ankle wrapped. He'd almost lost an eye, by his brother's doing. I might lose my life. But if I'm to die at the end of anyone's sword, let it be Leonardo's and I'll die heartbroken but honored.

" _If he- kills you- and ever comes out of this—if he remembers, he'll never forgive himself." Donatello put his hand on my shoulder. "Think of how April feels, knowing they used her the way they did." He glanced toward the end of the hall, a full tray of food from the morning still outside the door. "Don't put this on him, Karai."_

I squeezed deeper along the passage, my forked tongue tasting the air, searching for him. What had Donatello thought I would do? Not go for him? Not fight for him? The universe and the Unnamed knew his brother's had tried. We tried. One by one we'd saved all that remained from their brainwashing, from the spell they'd used April's mind to cast over us. One by one we'd died. Shini, Jones, and so many others... Strange how the two worked together, an alien sentient being possessing a psychic half alien human, to unlock a terrible door that left us twisted and broken, facing our polar opposites, left to destroy ourselves… or to struggle to get back to who we were.

Clumps of mud sprinkled my back like spit before a rain shower. I should be afraid. Fear should course through my tepid blood, chilling it with icy pinpricks. Thought I could not see, though I could feel the instability of the earth surrounding me, I feared nothing, not even the blade of my lover's sword—should I ever find him.

" _I can't give up on him, Donatello. He never gave up on me, and I'll go for him again and again until I either bring him home or die trying." I adjusted the strap on my backpack, stepped out onto the rickety front porch, paint peeling beneath my boots, waved to Raph and left the Hampton's house. Without a radio. Without a phone. Without back up. Because there was no power in this hell. Because there was no one to spare that was not needed elsewhere. April was a complete mental case, Donatello's hands full just trying to keep her from starving to death as she recounted all she'd been used to destroy. This left Raphael working to be sure Donatello ate, and that the unconscious Michelangelo didn't fade away._

The mouth of the tunnel widened as I flicked the air, tasting sediment, mold, something metallic….steel!

Steel and— my heart fluttered— sandalwood!

My body transformed, the starving mouths of my hands dissolving into the curling fingers of my palms. He was near, I could taste him. He was near and soon I would look into those hard blue eyes and search for the soul I loved inside him.

A cold laugh carried along the tunnel running vertical to mine. A chilling, shrill sound that hurt like a blade to the gut. Because it was his, and yet it wasn't. "You back again? I thought you would've learned."

I didn't need to close my eyes for the darkness enveloping me, not to see, to recall the last time I'd heard this sound…

It, the sentient leader of the Unnamed, possessed April, much like that ancient Aeon bitch. Only this creature didn't need her for long, using her like a key to unlock the veil between two worlds, us and our polar opposites. Only not all of us had them. Or if they'd existed there, in that other world, they were already dead.

A white bolt split the sky, one half a brilliant summer blue, the sun bright and shining, though it was muggy and hot, nothing was perfect. The other a starless, moonless black, with crumbling buildings that looked as though they'd dissolve to ash if one touched them. And the split remained, even after the battle, two halves seeming both lost and never-ending.

The people from the Night, that's what we'd called the dark side, wanted to live in the Day, our side. And the war began. The problem was when Light destroyed Dark or the Dark murdered the Light, the soul left without a vessel was absorbed into the surviving body. Leo was the first to make that mistake. We lost him first. He'd been gone the longest. And what he'd become was—

Steel cut the air before me and I flinched back into my tunnel. Transforming again, I coiled as tight as I could in the narrow space then sprung forward launching myself at him, returning to my human form as I wrapped my arms and legs around his body.

I'd tasted the fibers of the rope he dangled from. Knew he held it, supporting his body with one hand. It was nothing for him to add me to that burden, but it was unexpected and he flailed. Though he did not complain. There was no cry of surprise, not in pain, nor distress. He made no sound at all. And that terrified me.

Rather than struggle to be rid of me, he wrestled an arm free and began climbing.

"What- what are you doing?" I managed, though it was stupid for me to speak to him unprepared.

"Climbing." His voice was a cool, detached thing, lacking the warmth-dashed-with-arrogance that I enjoyed. I longed for the smooth tone he used to tease me with when we sparred. A flash of steel, a bead of sweat glistening his brow, or beading on the bridge of my nose, his reflection and mine blurred and stretched in the cross of our blades. He'd back me into a wall. I'd drop him to the floor. A roll. A twist. A thrust. My match.

As we ascended my mind caught up to the present, to the scent that was still him, clung to his skin and oozed from his pores, that he could not wash off and I was glad of it. Though the warm, spicy aroma seeping from his flesh stirred my insides it also brought pressure to my chest for I missed the touch that had always accompanied it. Right now he was rough as he drove his free hand into the soft tissue surrounding my shoulder blade. "Gah! Leo, stop! Please, stop!" My arm went numb, dropped limp and useless to my side.

"You came back." He clucked his tongue as if I'd asked for the pain. He clipped something to my belt. _Oh no._ I struggled with my one arm, desperate to remove the metal binding, though I couldn't see to understand how the clasp worked. Then he released my shoulder, thrust a hand into my chest, at the same time he lifted his knee and drove his foot out sending me flying into the wall. I bounced off, tumbling down the shaft, clumps of dirt and loose soil falling into my eyes. I met the end of the rope, bouncing and dangling beneath him as he hauled us both up.

There was no point talking to him now. Not until we were on solid ground. I took a deep breath, clearing my mind on the exhale. I'd planned to find him. Step one complete. I'd planned to convince him to take me in. Step two… in progress.


	2. Fantasy AU

_Some days I'm sure I'll lose to fate_

 _Some days I cannot find my faith_

 _But I just fight on_

 _I just fight on_

 _I just fight on baby_

– _Sia, Black & Blue_

Chapter 2

Fantasy

As he breeched the surface of the tunnel the flicker of red light, the flame, grew steadily brighter. He climbed out, allowing more of the warm red glow toward my eyes. Then he hauled me up. What I hadn't expected, hadn't had a chance to block as I climbed to my hands and knees, was his foot to my stomach sending me rolling across the cavern floor, smashing my head against a rock. Then that flicker of firelight, extinguished….

"Are ya okay, human? Ya hit yer head on that tree branch pretty hard."

What? Tree branch my ass, it was a damned rock. I opened my eyes, prepared for the darkness of the cave, but the sky was bright, the sun- where the hell was the sun? Where was the rip in the universe? Where was the Dark?

"Uh, if we're going to catch the boat we need to keep moving." A green, three-fingered hand thrust itself into my face. "Here, let me help you up."

My eyes locked on the familiar scar across his knuckles, my heart skipping beats as I lifted my gaze to meet eyes brighter than a neon sky. But something wasn't right. What the hell was Leonardo wearing? A cowboy hat? Carrying six shooters? I scampered to my feet, quite unlike an elegant kunoichi. Dirt wafted into the air coating my- what the hell was I wearing? The jeans were fine, but leather chaps? Cowboy- I mean cowgirl boots? As I dropped my gaze to a button down shirt and open tasseled leather vest, the brim of a hat slid down shielding my eyes. Oh, what new hell is this?

"Come on, human, we ain't got all day."

Raphael? My head snapped up, and I shoved the hat back, rebalancing it on my head. Don't know why I didn't take the damn thing off, except that it did take the sharp white glow off things. Oh gods, Raphael doesn't look right either. I took in the turtle wearing chain-mail and a clunky metal helmet. Oh gods. Not just any metal helmet. The Kuro Kabuto. I swallowed hard.

"Get up, already. Gees, I still don't know why we gotta drag you along. It ain't like yer a wizard-" Raphael pointed to Michelangelo, who wore a purple gown covered in large silver stars, wielding—Splinter's staff. My stomach turned. What was this? What was happening? Had I gone mad? Is this what April felt like, all crazy and confused? But Raphael pointed to her next. "Or useful like a psychic."

The spunky redhead wore a yellow organza gown that reminded me of Belle from Beauty and The Beast, the ridiculous musical movie that was visually stunning, yet annoying at the same time. But Michelangelo had insisted we sit through it.

Raphael growled. "Are ya even listenin'? Good for nothing, human. Not useful like turtle-genius over there." He pointed to Donatello who looked… well exactly like Donatello. Except for the horn-rimmed glasses. What was that white bit between the lenses? Had he taped them together?

"And ya sure as shit ain't a princess." Raphael half-bowed in a very I-just-entered-the-dojo sort of way, then mumbled a sad excuse for an apology. "Sorry fer cursin', yer Highness."

Your highness?

My eyes coasted over the wizard, the psychic, the genius, the warrior, and Leonardo's outstretched hand- vaguely I wondered what role he played- then I lost a breath.

A white kimono, folded perfectly at the waist, covered in pink cherry blossoms beneath a slender neck, lead to the most beautiful oval face I'd ever seen. My eyes filled. "M-mother?"

"Don't be ridiculous? How hard ya hit yer head?" Raph reached out to swat the back of my head and I lifted a hand to block him but found my reflexes too slow. What was wrong with me? I wasn't moving right.

Fortunately, Leonardo blocked Raphael's attempt and offered me his hand again. "As I was saying, we are all important. Everyone serves a purpose. Give me your hand, we'll get you on your feet and still make our ship if we leave now."

The entourage made their way, April first, then Donatello, Michelangelo, then Mother, Raphael, then Leonardo and I trailed behind. What was my purpose? I could sense I was no longer part mutant. None of my serpent instincts present. I had none of my kunoichi reflexes. I glanced down at my waist. I wasn't even carrying guns, like Leo. Though we were dressed the same.

I glanced from side to side, to the square and rectangular buildings that resembled something out of a western movie. I wouldn't know that much about their appearance had Raphael not insisted we watch westerns to begin with. Ugh. Too much television.

At the end of the dirt road was a river, a long white ship with masts spread as though there was wind in them, though no breeze blew. We were the only passengers, boarded together and spread about as we set sail on a windless sea.

Leonardo was tying a rope to something I could not see. But he was there, fit and beautiful, younger than I knew we were. He glanced at me beneath the brim of his hat, a semi-smile curving one corner of his mouth before he looked away. I was set to approach him, to try to talk to him, but what would I say? Why have you turned your back on your family? On me? I love you. Come back with me. Come home. But this wasn't the Leonardo I was struggling with, nor was it the one I knew and loved, and yet he was at the same time. My feet inched toward him like magnets propelled by a force I could not stop, yet I resisted because this made no sense and it was futile.

The ship landed and the crew formed their marching line again, down the ramp into another town. This one had a corral right by the shore, with hay bales stacked near a post board fence, men trying to sell guns offering different models up for target practice. Leonardo tipped his hat at me then bowed before the princess- my mother. "Ma'am I have some business to attend to. I will rejoin you later?"

She nodded graciously and he ventured toward the market.

As I followed the procession deeper into the city a strange sensation began to build. My feet wanted to gravitate to Leonardo, yet my hands ached to connect the people ahead of me and bind them together somehow.

This city was different, carved of white stone, sculptures of turtles where gargoyles might rest. The statue of a rat- Splinter- my father, in the center of town square.

"We have to find it. It's here somewhere." Donatello pointed East, to a building with giant columns resembling a museum. "Should we spread out and search, Majesty? Perhaps the archives will hold a clue."

Michelangelo pointed Splinter's staff toward the South, the sea calm waters below. But it was the stars glowing above in a daytime sky that he spoke of. "We should follow the constellations. They know the way."

Raphael, even in a knight's armor still wielded his sai, pointing one toward darkness in the North. "We'll find it beyond the battle. They've taken it, I know they have. But I can get it back. Send me, your Highness, I can get it back."

April let out a grunt as she squint her eyes and rubbed her brow. "I'm sensing something there to our West. It's there. I-I can-feel it."

My mother was silent, never spoke a word as she looked to me.

Hell if I knew which way to go. I didn't even know what we were looking for. I swallowed hard. She was so beautiful, her lashes long and dark over gentle brown eyes. I opened my mouth and a question popped out. "What is it you're looking for?"

She didn't answer, only smiled.

My heart was galloping. Whatever she wanted I would help her find it. She tipped her head toward April, who began leading us toward a white arbor, woven with bright red roses. She stepped through but I didn't see her come out the other side. Donatello went next, then Raphael, Michelangelo, then my Mother. A great sense of dread enveloped me as I approached what should be a garden entry. I realized the world had fallen silent. There was no echo over the town, not from the men target practicing, not from the people shopping, coming and going. I looked around. All of the townsfolk stood still as if paralyzed. Leonardo turned as I glanced toward the range, his eyes meeting mine. He was far enough away that I shouldn't have been able to hear him. Yet I did.

"Go on. You're more powerful than you think."

I don't know why I believed him, maybe my brain didn't, but my heart knew. My blood burned, my heart pumping hard as I approached the arbor, peering into the blinding white beyond. I stepped through, blindly, knowing I was only human and had no power, but believed the fool turtleboy who'd promised me otherwise.

I tumbled downhill, noticing everything was varied shades of white and hard, the path beneath me marble that sparkled like diamonds. I landed on my butt in the center of a white circle, scanning the four white columned buildings but not seeing my friends- my family. But I heard them screaming.

"Help! Help us!"

Above me they were rising into the sky their bodies spread eagle, like skydivers in reverse. They clawed at the air as clouds swirled above them at their center a black hole opening, surely to swallow them up.

"Help!"

Only my mother never opened her mouth, while the rest screamed.

My feet dragged across the marble but while my torso stretched toward the sky, I refused the pull. Simply denied it. My palm lifted to the sky, great energy building inside me, searching for a way out as my feet bound to the ground. Warm white light appeared to outline my palm, it stayed there as I willed my family to me, slowly curling my fingers in as they drew nearer with every breath.

Come back. I've got you. Stay with me. Please.

My mother was first, she reached for April, who reached for Donnie, who reached for Mikey, who reached for Raph. But it was Mother's fingers, her silken hand that interwove with mine.

I had them.

Then my feet began to drag, the marble peeling away like soil beneath my boots, leaving grooves. No. I searched, looking behind me for something to grab onto.

There he was.

Leonardo's hand grasped mine and I was complete. "I've got you. Hold on, you're more powerful than you know."

My eyes were wet, my breath fleeting as I gasped. "You keep saying that. H-how do you know?"

He smiled and I wished it were real. Wished it true. That he was there with me and I could touch him, feel the strength of him as he literally grounded me. "Because, you are their anchor, and I am yours."

Then he and everything around me, my mother, our family, were gone.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," came a broken version of his voice. One vacant of all that I loved in him.

There was something wet in my eyes as I opened them to the dim light of a torch. A soft ember glow surrounding the vessel of our leader. My love. He was in there somewhere. And if that dream led me to this nightmare it showed me one thing for certain along the way. The message was all backwards, all wrong. Well partly. Because, I wasn't our family's anchor.

He was.

Hopefully, I was his.


	3. Sparring

_And I am a wounded warrior_

 _And now that the enemy is closing in_

 _I am a wounded warrior_

 _Looking for someone to let me in_

 _-Sia, Black & Blue_

Chapter 3

Sparring Together

He kicked at me and I rolled away. Shadows flickered across his cheek, the empty half smile on his face summoning a churn from my stomach. The edge of his katana shimmered in the dim firelight, stained red with the blood of his victims. He had no enemies, there was no one left for him to fight and anyone left didn't want to fight him. What he had was every living being cowering in his wake and a blood trail like a rabid, feral beast on a warpath.

To look on his face, to peer into his eyes was to know every aspect of darkness I'd lived through. Yet there he was with that sickening smirk pasted to his face as he lowered the tip of his blade to my throat. Fool that I am, I never looked away, never blinked; even lifted my chin so my artery met the flash of steel.

The corner of his eye twitched and my heart skipped a beat. What was that? What did it mean? I used to think I could tell. Not anymore.

"No one on this planet dare cross me, yet here you are." There it was again. Oh, please mean something. "Not many survive an encounter with me. Yet you've done that, how many times now?" He didn't wait for an answer, didn't really want one and didn't care. "But this time you are practically serving yourself up, without all the swordplay." He frowned. "Pity. I grow bored without the entertainment." Another flicker. This is good. Maybe. Before hope can rise in my chest he flicks his wrist, his blade drawing back then coming down on my arm, but with the precision, the meticulous, effortless accuracy that is Leonardo, I'm merely grazed.

I almost hate the razor fine cut more than a gash, the damn thing stings. I inhaled deep but do not take my eyes from his. I will not fear him. I'm not here to cower at his feet or beneath his torment. I'm here for him. To fight for him. To save him. From himself.

He smacks his lips, while twirling his blade in one hand then sighs like a petulant teenager. Something he hasn't been in years. "What to do with you before I kill you, hmm? I want that playtime I think." He reaches for his scabbard, pulls forth his second sword, tossing it to me. "Not sure why you were fool enough to come unarmed. Not when I know you know what to do with that." He points the tip of his blade, fresh with my blood, toward the sword in the dirt at my feet. "Pick it up."

I swallowed. Ignoring the blade, I kept my eyes on him. "Do you remember my name? Do you remember me? Do you remember us?"

He scowled. "Pick. It. Up."

If I picked up that blade I'd better be ready for the fight of my life while somehow managing not to take his. "Leo-"

His teeth were bared, his eyes tiny pinpricks as he kicked my legs. "Pick it up! Fight me!" Then he laughed, the sound so wrong, so twisted, it summoned bile to my throat.

I had to try, had to bring him back. "Leo, please. We used to spar together. Do you remember that? Huh? Do you remember the dance of ninja and kunoichi across rooftops in the moonlight? Do you remember us?"

His nostrils flared, his teeth were bared. "Why are you here? Why have you come back?"

Why?

I could taste the word in my mouth, like something sweet and sour. Sweet as his breath against my neck, the flavor of something pure on my tongue, the scent that seeped into my head and swirled around my insides stirring and teasing me like a breath captured on the cusp of a breeze. I came for everything we were, everything we had and everything we still could be. "Leonardo, I came for you."

He sneered. "Those other turtles came for me. Said they were my brothers. Ha. I never had brothers and I don't need them now." Sweat dampened his brow. "I don't need whatever or whoever you think you are."

My throat ached as my jaw shifted, my teeth grinding together as I steeled myself against his words. He doesn't know who he is, or what he's saying. He's lost. Like April, but not. She knew who she was and what she'd done. What she was suffering was regret, for all she could not undo. But Leo, Leo had soaked up a darkness he wasn't meant to carry and I had to drive it out of him. But how? I licked my lips. "That's unfortunate, Leonardo, because I need you."

I kicked the hilt of the sword driving it farther away, though my heart skittered against my ribs, my fingers curling into my palm as if I held it, ready to protect myself. Because I should. But I came ready to die for him. I held out my hands as my eyes burned with heat. "I surrender. Do with me what you want."

For a fraction of a second the wall over his face, the barricade, stone wall of his eyes, flickered with confusion. Yes. Something uncertain. He lifted his foot, his weight shifting to step back, but he stopped himself, seemed to remember he was dominant. "My prisoner."

It wasn't a question. A confirmation.

I nodded.

He pointed to the sword again.

"Pick it up. Spar with me." He shrugged. His face impassive. "If you live you will be my pet."

At this my stomach hurt, like he'd driven the blade through me. He sounded so much like Shredder. I couldn't breathe. For a moment I forgot my plan. Did I have one? My hand was trembling as I grasped the sword, lifting it from the sticky dirt it had landed in. He gave me no warning, no chance to take a stance, attacking with a vicious strike. I countered quickly, driving him back. He fought to kill, this wasn't swordplay, this wasn't sparring, this was a test. Either I best him or I die now.

We fell into a familiar dance, the clinks and scrapes of clashing steel, the pants and grunts as our struggle ensued, the shuffle of feet, parry and strike, the tracks in the dirt, puffs of dust in sparse places. Sweat glistened his bare-faced brow, his bandana tied around his arm, hanging, faded and torn. I swiped, he rolled. He countered, I blocked. How I used to love this, how I missed this, how I needed it, needed him.

How I loved how it used to end. One of us would yield. Cast both swords away then reach for one another like we were starving, like we were half-full and only when touching would our cups, our hearts flow over.

He backed me into the wall of the cave, near the torch, the flame of it singing the tips of my hair. He bashed my sword-wielding hand with the hilt of his blade. The sickening crunch of my wrist. The muted thud of the sword in the flutter of dust. My eyes locked with his. Blue. Endless as the sea. Yet vacant like a cloudless sky. He wheeled back, circled around, his sword scraping the wall. But I kept my eyes on his as I waited for his death strike. "I love you, Leo." Tears coated my lashes as I drew what was certain to be my final breath.


	4. First Date

_Black and blue, I'm begging you_

 _Take me in, I'm surrendering_

 _Black and blue, but if I'm with you_

 _If I'm with you, I will live to fight on through_

 _-Sia, Black & Blue_

Chapter 4

First Date

Sparks flew as his blade clashed the wall, halted just shy of my cheek as his eyes darted over me. His lips parted, his eyes growing wide then small again. He squint, then placed his sword beneath my throat as he stepped closer, inhaling deep. "You smell of flowers."

He zeroed in on my hair, dropped his weapon to place one hand around my throat. He didn't squeeze and this meant a great deal to me. For one I was still alive, he hadn't killed me. Two, he wasn't strangling me. At least not yet. His brow furrowed as he reached with his free hand into my shoulder-length hair, grasping a small chunk from the underside. He pulled it forth, rubbing it between his fingers. "It's blue."

Though his grasp was loose around my throat there was a knot deep within it, great pressure building in my chest. My eyes stung as a feeble smile worked my lips. "It is."

He wrinkled his nose as he rubbed the electric blue locks between his fingers, letting them fall among the black. "I prefer the ebony."

He turned his battered shell on me for the first time, leaving both weapons on the ground as he approached the fire. He sat beside it. "I kept dreaming of the blue— blue just like that, and this—" he motioned to his mask, bound around his arm. It was splotchy now with something dark.

He picked up a stick, poked at the fire, stoking the embers. "Well you lived. I am entertained. Sit. Tell me why you've come to die by my hand. Entertain me a while longer before I grow bored of you." His head turned awkwardly on his neck, like a door in a jam that didn't fit. "Perhaps I'll let you live until you do."

"Do what?" I asked, taking a step toward him.

"Bore me."

If I was going to get him back I had to bring it, like really pour it out to him all the ways I should've all along. At this point I had everything to lose, at the hand of the one I was trying to save. "I'm not sure what you remember." I sat across from him, fixing my gaze on him as the flames flickered between us. "We met as teenagers, saved the world together a half dozen times. You helped me see the truth, enabled me to have honor, something I always wanted. Without you I wouldn't have either."

He nodded toward the katana, still in the dust. Cast aside, dirty, dishonored. "You're boring me." My Leo would never treat his weapons like that. This provoked my ire.

"Yeah, well it used to be you that bored me. I was the dark and you were the light." I picked up a stick, jabbed at the same log he was poking from the other side. Tiny sparks drifted up, scarlet stars, chasing the smoke. "Our first date had firelight too. I asked you out, since you couldn't get through the asking part without choking on your words." I snickered and he straightened, frowning as he blocked my stick then poked the stoked fire unnecessarily.

"I'm not afraid of anything." He argued.

"I didn't say you were." I scoffed. "It was after we lost Splinter. There was this whole weird grieving thing we did together." I shrugged. "Since we'd already done everything physical and said the "I love you" bits, it didn't seem like a big deal to ask for a real date." My gaze drifted into the blue of the flame …

 _Leo carried an armful of logs to the ring of stones near the cliffs edge. "Are you sure this counts as a first date?" He placed them on the pile, selecting one to add to the fire. "I mean, are you sure this is okay for a first date? Don't most people go out to dinner or something?"_

 _He was nervous, though I couldn't say why. We'd made love weeks ago, spoken it the day before that… we'd skipped the order of things opting for the chaotic way we did everything else. I was fine with it._

 _I gazed at the valley below, clusters of varying shades of green swaying in a steady breeze. The same air carried cedar-burdened smoke across my ankles. The odor was heavy, thick and clung to my clothes. But the landscape before me, the sun a melting myriad of oranges and reds, dipping between two peaks across the horizon, remnants of a dusky blue sky fading to purple then black above an endless cascade of emerald and pine, the greatness of it all stirred something inside me, summoned a nameless energy to thrum beneath my skin._

 _The hike had been good for us, the trail smudgy in places where the earth was soft from a prior day's rain. He'd flip-flopped back and forth between needless chatter and an easy silence. I preferred the latter, slipping my hand into the curl of his, saffron rays piercing the canopy above, like strips of warmth taking off the slight chill. I could've done without the mosquitoes, and the damned cacophony of locust, tree frog and cicada that made my ears ache. But the occasional crunch of leaves beneath our feet as we played a game of "who is the better ninja" was particularly gratifying._

 _I enjoyed the faint ribbons of gold darting across the top of his head and edge of his carapace as he went ahead, clearing the path. There in the forest, or from the rooftop of a city beneath a night sky, in the shadows of the sewers he hailed from, or outlined in the white glow of a summer sun, sometimes the realness of him thrust itself upon me. The golden swirls adorning his shell, the chips and scratches, battle scars that he shouldn't have. Then there was his inhuman profile, the wrinkles around his eyes and the edges of his mouth, that shouldn't be there, for he was too young to bear them. But he was too young, we were too young for much of what we'd lived through. And through it all he was still beautiful, eyes pools of blue that I allowed myself to get lost in, knew full well that to love him was a dangerous undertaking, yet in the thrill and tragedy that was my life I indulged in him. I wasn't the least bit sorry._

 _With a final swipe of his sword he knocked back the brush and we were there, a large flat cliff that promised a breathtaking view and did not disappoint. As we stepped to the edge together I squeezed his hand. "I think this counts."_

 _The sun dissolved behind the mountains leaving us by firelight, along with the small flickering jar of fireflies beside my bedroll._

 _Leo sat behind me, wrapping me in his arms. "Are you going to let them go?" He nuzzled my neck and I leaned into him more, hiding my smile behind the curtain of my hair. His breath tickled my ear. "There are real stars above us."_

 _My heart fluttered, like the wings of the tiny glowing creatures desperate to break free of their cage. I glanced from them to the sky above, losing a breath at the stars upon stars, some minute specks like a cluster of freckles, others larger and many overlapping. It was a moonless night and I was glad for it. The sky was clear, deep blue merging with black, endless as the sea._

 _He pointed to the northern most cluster. "That is the black tortoise, warrior. He guards the North."_

" _The black warrior." I hummed._

 _His lips brushed my neck, sending little thrills throughout me. "You know the story."_

 _My cheeks ached from my smile. "It's been a while, remind me."_

 _He leaned back a bit, leaving my neck cold. "Xuanwu was the prince of a Chinese ruler. However, rather than take the throne, he left his parents when he was sixteen to study Taoism. While he was studying he was told that he had to purge all human flesh from his body. Since he had always eaten human food his stomach and intestines remained human. He prayed to the gods for guidance, and a sentient being appeared to him, changing Xuanwu's organs into divine ones. Once removed his original stomach and intestines were thrown to the mountains, and said to become a tortoise and a snake. The two became demons, terrorizing people. Now that he was divine, Xuanwu heard of this and returned to slay the beasts he'd unleashed. However the snake and tortoise showed remorse, so he forgave them, taking them in and training them to atone for their mischief. He appointed them the Tortoise and Snake generals, and they assisted him throughout his many quests. Eventually, he achieved divine status and was worshiped as a deity of the northern sky."_

 _I tilted my head to the side, teasing him with a coy smile as I peered into his magnificent sapphire eyes. "What became of the Tortoise and Snake generals?"_

 _He gathered me closer, his arms strong yet gentle, and I relished the way we'd settled into one another as if we'd been together for years. "I believe that along the way they found one could not be without the other, and when Xuanwu ascended they joined him, his eternal guardians in the sky." He pointed to a cluster of stars, but there were so many I wasn't sure what he was trying to show me. "See there, the snake is wrapped around the tortoise because they are one."_

 _I searched the cluster of stars, trying to determine some arrangement that resembled a tortoise and a snake. Why couldn't they each be different colors, to make it simple? My toes curled as I leaned forward, his arms loosening as I searched the sky. "I can't see it."_

 _He was patient as his large fingers cupped around my tiny hand, guiding it like a pointer. Star by star my heart began to pound._

 _A tortoise…and there woven around its body, a snake._

 _Then his voice, those words._

" _We were written in the stars, Karai."_


	5. Fire and Water

_Water, our blood._

 _Air, our breath._

 _Earth, our body._

 _And fire, our spirit._

 _-Unknown_

Chapter 5

Fire & Water

An audible snarl ripped me from my memory, our story, like an unwanted page torn from a book. "That's not how it happened!"

I peered at him, across the fire between us, the flames dancing in his eyes. The cool blue waters that I'd once gazed in for hours these were hardened like stone. "It is," I said. "That was our first date. I'd remember. I was there."

He kicked a log, upsetting the rest, sending a rush of red into the air so high I lost sight of him for a second.

A split second too long, for when the flames quelled, he was gone.

It was stupid of me to close my eyes, to search inward and reach out, to feel him, to know the echo of him was still there. The Leonardo I knew lived in the shadows, but he was made of light. In this respect Dark Leo and my Leo, were the same yet different. This shell of him crept into the darkness, away from the dim light of the fire. His voice taunted me from his hiding place. "It's not how the story goes, of the tortoise and the snake."

A chill settled over my shoulders. I shivered, rubbing my hands over my arms for warmth… as I sat by a fire. Internally I groaned. This is what our lives had come to. Heatless flames, pools of blue, sunless skies, torn in two. Moonless nights, blood drenched hands, a city of ashes and no hero to be had. I exhaled a resigning breath. "Then tell me how it goes, because it was you that told it to me in the first place."

The shift in the air behind me was slight, but I felt it. Then the tip of his dagger was against my spine, his mouth to my hair. "That's not how the story ends. The sentient being that granted Xuanwu his divine organs, cast us to the mountains like trash. A price had to be paid for ridding Xuanwu of us. And we were the ones to pay it. Demons indeed. After they cast us aside, I burned cities to the ground and you bound twice as many in sheets of ice. They deserved our wrath, and oh, but our vengeance was glorious—"

He inhaled deep, let out an eerie laugh as he dug the tip in. I commanded myself to be still as my flesh buckled beneath the pressure. Would he kill me now? What madness was he going on about? I wouldn't ask and didn't have to as he was more than ready to share. "Then Xuanwu returned to destroy us." He withdrew the blade, shifting so the cold metal pressed against the cut he'd given me earlier. "You were so quick to beg his forgiveness, calling him Father. But I had a thirst for battle, a hunger to satiate. For you I feigned my apology. It worked out well when Xuanwu accepted our repentance, and trained us. Mmm, and my bloodlust was fulfilled. We'd earned our place by his side, one we should've never been forced to leave."

His breath became shaky, the blade slipping into the groove of the cut. My body tensed, as I prepared to lose my arm. "We'd ascended to the highest honor, stars to shine in an immortal sky, our bodies woven together like a lock and key, guarding the north for eternity." He applied pressure, the blade lifting the flesh as I sucked in a breath. "The damn sentient returned though, used that psychic and ripped us apart. She tossed you to the Light and left me here in the Dark. And you left me there! Left me!" He lifted the blade, snatching me up and spinning me around to face him.

His eyes were wild, manic, his teeth bared. "You left me and you don't remember! You don't remember who you are, or the truth, our truth! You left me and never came back. And without you I rot. Still I rot. And yet—" He lowered the blade to my throat. "I can't bring myself to kill you."

I swallowed, feeling the steel against my windpipe. "I'm not from your world. And my Leo, though he destroyed your body and you possessed his, he's not from your world either. I don't know where your version of me is. I never met her, assumed she was dead. I don't know what you're talking about."

His nostrils flared. "It's not a myth. It's a truth." His brow furrowed, he shook his head. "What you call fact, where I'm from, my plane, my reality, is the beginning of all things. She separated us there, and cast you here. And you stayed. Then she had the psychic and ripped through the veil, separating our souls. My world, our world, your true home, has been dying since you left. I've been dying a slow death that will never come because I'M IMMORTAL!"

I couldn't breathe. I could hardly form thoughts. He was crazy. My Leo gone, consumed by some demonic version of himself. I was a fool. To think I could save him when I was only— But I wasn't only human. I was part serpent.

He took a step back, lowering his dagger. "Do you remember?"

This was madness.


	6. Yes

_I'll let go, walking into the unknown_

 _If I surrender, if I lay my arms down_

 _Am I a fighter?_

 _Am I a fighter?_

 _Cause I've been fighting so long baby_

 _-Sia, Black & Blue_

Chapter 6

Yes

He dropped the dagger, gripped my shoulders as his eyes searched mine. "We can fix this. Together. Use the psychic, repair the seam. You can come back with me, to our home." He began pacing. "We'll have to combine our energies, draw enough power from them to repair the seam." He picked up the dagger tapping it against his palm. "We'll have to kill the psychic so the sentient cannot use her against us ever again."

My heart ground to a halt. What the hell was he talking about? Now he wanted to kill April!

 _Agree._

What?

 _Agree with him, Karai._

What the— who is this? Why am I hearing voices in my head? Gods, why am I talking to myself?

 _Just say yes, Karai._

No way! It's finally happened. I have lost my mind.

I rubbed my face. This was too much. It'd all gone too far. I watched as Dark Leo continued to pace, mumbling to himself. This battle was lost before it ever began.

 _It's me, April. Just say yes. Trust me._

My head began to ache. I pinched between my eyes, and was struck with a bit of melancholy as I recalled Leo having done the same thing many times. What I'd give to go back to that day on the mountain, to lie in his arms, make love under the stars… What I'd give to sit up late watching Space Heroes, battered and bruised from beating up street thugs. What I'd give to go home. But where was that without Leo?

 _Say yes, Karai._

"Well?" He flipped the blade in his hand, throwing and catching it. "What will it be? You stay here forever as my slave or we take down the sentient and her psychic and go home?"

In that second he was almost my Leo. My heart. My home. So close I could touch him. My fingers burned as they curled into my palms. I wanted him. To be wherever he was… and I might go anywhere and do anything so that I could. "Yes."


	7. Homecoming

Two souls are sometimes created together

and in love before they're born.

\- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chapter 7

Homecoming

The last time I'd tromped through these woods had been with my Leonardo. This time it was with the shadow of him, a crazed version that for some reason thought we were two parts of a constellation. One insane idea backed by another. He wanted to kill April. And she wanted me to lead him right to her.

The slow burn between my eyes had spread up and across my brow, then began to radiate out with every telepathic word April spoke. _Lure him to the cliff. We'll be waiting. Tell him it's our rendezvous point._

Okay already. Quiet down, O'Neil. You're tearing my head apart… and the whole talking to me while not being here thing, it's creepy.

 _What's creepier is that I've been with you since you set out on this mission._

What?

 _I had to figure out a way to repair the seam, to send back all the spirits that do not belong here… while keeping myself alive by the end of it. That meant I needed a lock, and I don't know if you're going to like it but I think I found one._

Why am I less than thrilled about this?

 _Because it's a pretty permanent solution. Maybe it won't be so bad, if it works._

I groaned and Dark Leo's eyes narrowed on me. "You're quiet."

I shrugged. "I'm meeting my friend in the woods so I can help you kill her and combine mystical energies somehow so we can repair a rip in the universe and return to our celestial home. You know, I've done some crazy shit but this ranks pretty high up."

He bore some kind of unreadable stern expression that made my stomach turn. He didn't move like Leo, or talk like him, yet he was him. Or he was in there. My heart knew it more than my pounding head did, because with every step closer to him, to our cliff, an ache began to build inside me. One way or another, maybe even one universe or another, we would be together.

As we breeched the clearing, April was nowhere to be found. I approached the cliff, a pang in my heart at the remnants of ash from a fire long burned out. What was I doing?

It was hard to look over the valley, the rise and dips, a grey world beneath a sunless sky. Everything was dying. All that was green was brown. I closed my eyes, feeling the breeze on my face, the ache in my heart great. If I could find Dark Leo's version of me, whatever April's plan was wouldn't be warranted.

 _Yes it would. And we're here, you just can't see us. Stand in the circle._

What? Who's here? Why can't I see you? And stand in what circle?

 _You're exhausting you know that?_

My teeth ground together. I'm getting sick of you in my head, O'Neil.

From the sound of it Dark Leo was stomping around. "Where is she?"

 _We're all here, even Michelangelo. Stand in the center of the fire pit._

I barely stopped myself from gasping. My heart picked up pace. Michelangelo is awake?

 _He is. He's okay._

"Where is she? You said she'd be here!" I ignored Dark Leo's complaints, so relieved to hear good news. I opened damp eyes, turning my back on the mountains. April, why can't I see you?

 _Well, for better or worse, it's uh some combination of physics and— oh just let Donnie explain it later. Get in the circle._

As I took a step toward the soot, Dark Leo marched toward me, one hand reaching for his weapon. "Where is she?"

Where I should feel fear, should be stricken and terrified of him, of losing my life, of losing this long, endless battle, I wasn't. He'd revealed too much. Told me what he believed to be true, whether it was or not, it gave me an iota of power and that was more than enough. I stepped into the circle as he closed in. "Are you going to kill me, Leonardo? Is this it? You've come all this way, been through so much, to take me down here, now? Why? Because she's a few minutes late?"

His heels dug into the soil, puffs of dirt wafting around his feet. His eyes grew wide, his features soft for a second, but he didn't lower his hand as a breath later he steeled himself, pulling forth his weapon. "I will. I can, and I will."

 _Catch, Karai!_

Catch what? Before I could react my tanto seemed to materialize in thin air. Oh! This was the work of Donatello for sure. I grabbed my weapon as Dark Leo took his first strike.

He scowled, eyeing my tanto. "How did you do that?" Our swords clashed as he glared at me over the sharp of his blade. "Has this place put some power in you?"

 _Get him in the circle!_

His eyes darted over me, searching for some explanation. A slight smile graced the corner of my lips and he snarled, wheeling back to launch forward for another strike. "I will kill you! I will! I will and this hurt will die with you!"

I blocked his strike again, my feet sliding, my heel breeching the edge of the ring. I thrust my weight forward, digging in, pushing him back too far.

 _Hurry up, Karai, I can't hold this field much longer. We're all about to be exposed and if he's not in before that happens, all hell will break loose._

I grunt, struggling to hold my ground. Hasn't it already?

 _The circle, Karai!_

I'm working on it! "Oh, come on, Leo! I know you're in there damnit!"

Dark Leo let out a roar as if willing himself to engage me. I edged back, letting him in close, dropped down, and executed a precise kick to his sword wielding hand. His palm opened releasing the weapon, which I kicked away. He ground his teeth together, lunging toward me as he entered the ring.

But as I leapt to my feet, his hands closed around my throat. I looked him in the eye, my heart pounding. "I love you, Leo. I know you're in there and I need you— I need you. Help me help you. Please—"

A bolt of lightning branched across the sky, lateral above us rather than reaching down for the earth. It bore piercing white arms with crooked limbs, bringing with it clouds that rolled in like gathering cattle. The breeze grew to a strong wind, dirt swirling at our feet as one by one our family appeared.

"I am the dragon of the east." Donatello's eyes were closed as he and his brothers sat in lotus, April completing the circle.

"I am the bird of the south." Michelangelo echoed, his eyes closed as well.

Raphael glared at his lost brother's face. "I am the tiger of the west."

"I am the tortoise of the north." April strained to repeat her words again and again in cadence with the brothers. "We are the guardians of the elements, of cardinal directions, the keepers of the seasons and of one another."

Dark Leo's eyes flashed, darting to April. "YOU! I'll destroy you. You are not me. You are nothing!"

April's eyes glowed bright white. "I will return you to where you belong, to who you are, with the one you love, and I will become something new, the yellow dragon at the center, guardian of earth." She reached out, touching Leo's leg. "I am the yellow dragon. You are the tortoise of the north."

 _Karai, tell him you are the snake._

The winds surrounding us grew to hurricane force, trees bending in half, a dark circle opening at the funnel above us. Oh gods. My nightmare. It was happening. Hair whipped across my face, I felt two hands, one on each of my calves, looked down, Michelangelo and Donatello. Raphael had Leo by the opposite leg from April. All were still chanting, and my body began to transform, taking its serpent shape. "I am the snake, lover of the tortoise, keeper of his soul as he is keeper of mine."

My eyes were wet. If I had to go with this creature, to be with Leo, I would. I looked to his face, his eyes were closed, the space surrounding him calm as if he'd gone into a trance, but the winds grew ever fierce lifting first April, tearing her grasp from Leo, Donatello released me to grab onto her to stop her flying away, he was sucked up too, Michelangelo grabbing his ankle, and Raph onto his. There they were being carried into the sky. Then everything seemed to slow to fractions. I looked at the swirling heavens, recognizing yin and yang represented in night and day, light and dark. At its center the black hole and my family coasting right toward it.

My entire being began to shake, my knees threatening to give. I wasn't going to lose Leo, I was going to lose everyone. I reached for Leonardo wrapping my tubular body around him so that he was tight in my embrace our two heads cheek to cheek. "I've got you, Leo."

Black smoke emerged from his nostrils, floating up. As I exhaled, a long string of white slipped from my lips. I watched as the two, shapeless spirits wove around one another before forming the tortoise and the snake.

"And I've got you," Leo whispered, lifting his hand for the sky, summoning our family to return. "All of you."

The two spirits drifted through the black hole and the dark seemed sucked into the tiny space like a vacuum before closing. Our world was our own again. Our family collapsed around us, heavy sighs, coughs and groans as they dusted themselves off.

"Is everyone okay?" Leo asked, lifting a hand to touch my face.

"Is it really you, Leo?" Michelangelo scrambled to his feet, throwing his arms around the two of us, as I was still woven around my love. It was him. If not for his voice and touch alone, I'd know him anywhere.

Leo let out a tired laugh. "Yeah, it's me."

Raphael tugged Michelangelo away and I reluctantly released Leo, shifting back to my human form.

Donatello helped April to her feet. "It worked." She threw her arms around him. "It worked!"

The genius turtle grinned like a fool. "It did!"

"Oh!" She released him, near pushing him over and he fumbled then rubbed the back of his head. "Oh. But we have to seal the lock to make it permanent, so the Unnamed can't do this ever again." She reached into her pocket, fishing out two plain silver rings. "You two ready to get married?"

Leo's entire body went rigid and I looked at her like she was nuts. "What?"

April nodded. "Oh, yeah, see ever since we lost Leo I noticed something off about you too. But I couldn't put my finger on it until you had the dream, then you revealed to me your first date with Leo, then he revealed the truth and his plan. We had more than enough energy to draw power from between the five of us. The turtle and snake are home, but to keep them there and safe, the two of you must make an eternal promise to one another."

Leo remained silent, though I could see his Adam's apple bobbing in my periphery.

"Why?" I loved Leo and all, but marriage was nowhere on my radar. I glanced at the rings she held out to us, my heart skipping beats. Not on my radar at all.

"Because your souls mirror theirs. Their bond is eternal, protected from their side, but if yours isn't sealed by some act, something that locks the two of you together, you aren't safe and therefore neither are they." April brazenly reached out, shoving one ring in my hand and the other in Leo's. "Everyone knows you love each other. Let's make it official, because I for one never want to be used by a sentient being ever again. Twice in on lifetime is twice too many."

I swallowed hard as I squeezed the cool metal against my palm, exhaling a shaky breath. This wasn't who I am, was it? A wife? Was it? A lump rose to my throat, moist heat burning my eyes. Would he want this?

It was hard to look at the former shadow of Leonardo. I thought I was starving and desperate to look upon his true face, into the heart beneath his endless blue eyes. But to look in them with this demand thrust upon us…. My hands began to shake. Yet as I lifted my gaze he was smiling.

"So, you saved me for once, huh?" He grinned, a boyish grin I hadn't seen in so long it sent a pang through me. Suddenly it was all I could do not to wrap my arms around him and weep. Our journey had been long, so very long, and I was tired.

His face became blurry as my eyes grew wet. I found it difficult to speak for the tightness, the growing pressure inside me. "Yeah, I think we kind of saved each other. It's what we do."

His eyes held me, a tumult of emotion rolling through them like an endless rising tide, uncertainty, confidence, relief, hope, love. "So you, uh—" He held up his hand opening his palm, then closed it and looked to our family. "Can you guys give us a minute?"

Our grumbling bunch warned a time limit of no more than two minutes before a pissed off sentient might rip apart the universe again.

Leo reached for my hand, dropping the ring in my palm. "I'm not going to lie. I have thought about this. A hundred different ways but none of them like this. I thought I'd do something corny like—" He dropped down on one knee and my face rushed hot. "Like this. I thought the stars would be out—"

Both our gazes lifted to the sky as it slowly faded from bright blue to black, one by one the stars shining bright. Perhaps the black tortoise of the North had something to do with that, it did shine brightest. Huh, I could find it so easily now.

He stroked the back of my hand with his thumb. "I imagined a lot of things, but I don't know if I ever thought they'd be real. But here we are." A flicker of doubt, no—worry, furrowed his bare brow. "Will you marry me, Karai?"

My head was bobbing, as I dropped to my knees the words bursting from my lips. "Yes, you stupid, annoying, adorable, loyal, dork of an honorable turtle. Yes. I just never want to see that kind of darkness in you again." I swiped at my eyes, opening both my hands to reveal the two rings, one large and one small. I held his out to him, placing it on his finger. "I will keep close for always, Leo. Nothing will ever come between us, not even the stars."

His hands were shaking as he placed the smaller ring on my finger. "I love you, Karai. Thank you for coming for me. But understand, it isn't the stars that kept us apart it was them that created us in the first place."

It was two years ago when our surprise marriage was thrust upon us. Thankfully, it's been two very quiet, peaceful years. The only upheaval that has occurred to the Hamato clan in that time has been Raph's continued grousing, Michelangelo's antics, Donatello's creations, and April's learning not to use her telepathy to eavesdrop. Of course there was the one enormous development that occurred between me and Leo.

I leaned against him, inhaling a mix of cedar smoke and sandalwood, peering up at the constellation that started it all. He hummed into my hair, watching the flames dance about the fire. It bothered him sometimes, the things he had done, because he remembered them, and he recalled Dark Leo's life before we knew him as well. I exhaled a happy sigh, a sentiment he echoed. I glanced up at him and him down to me then we both looked toward the tent.

"Think she's still sleeping?" he whispered.

I chuckled. "I think you don't want her to be. We wore her out with the hiking to get here."

"What hiking did she do? I carried her most of the way." He grinned a somewhat dopey smile. He'd loved every minute of our family adventure.

Moving as if we were one, we inched toward the enclosure, peeling back the flap to reveal the sleeping toddler, red-cheeked, almond-eyed, with thick black hair clinging to her face. Her hand curled into a fist and when she stretched out I caught glimpse of the terrapin-snake shaped birth mark on the underside of her wrist. We both held our breath, hoping she didn't wake. That would surely involve crying, and hours to get her back to sleep. Kameko was beautiful. Even when she shifted, her semi-formed carapace, her little terrapin body was perfect. It had terrified me at first, her skin in her mutant-hybrid form, a glowing iridescent white instead of green. When the sun hit her carapace it reflected pearly rainbows. And she smelled so good, of baby wash, sandalwood, and jasmine. My heart swelled. I thought I'd never be a wife, let alone a mother. For a while I didn't think I'd even have Leo, or maybe any sort of life at all.

Using every ninja skill in our bag of tricks we crept into the tent, Leo on one side of her, me on the other. We exhaled in unison, our gazes lifting at the same time. Moments like this it was hard to believe there had ever been any darkness at all, that it wasn't merely a nightmare I'd dreamt up. As we drifted closer above our sleeping daughter, Leo's rich scent mixed with undertones of baby and my heart fluttered. Our lips met in the sweetest graze, mouths parting, tongues seeking, hearts reaching, always reaching… I was a wife, with my soul mate for a husband, and our daughter a gift from the stars... It had all been worth it.


End file.
